Geely Design Shanghai has shown a new concept car derived from the Chinese carmaker’s ‘Expanding Cosmos’ design philosophy. The Vision Starburst is said to have been created to explore a new and alternative expression of the design philosophy that Geely Auto will harness for future models.
“The Expanding Cosmos philosophy serves as a constant inspiration for our designers to discover a new and holistic design language that satisfies our ever-expanding and increasingly diverse range of customers,” says Geely Design Shanghai VP Guy Burgoyne.
The inspiration for Vision Starburst comes from the stellar phenomena where brilliant nebulas and magnificent elements come together, merging, fusing and finally bursting into new stars. Every new design concept is the result of the combination, fusion, and eruption of different ideas which become new star products that enrich the market.
In Vision Starburst, Geely Shanghai designers cooperated throughout the design process to create unity between exterior and interior, color and materials, as well as car and user. In the conceptual design form, bursting energy and constant outward tension result in a twisted profile with curved surfaces that appear to rotate and stretch. In its details, the design takes inspiration from stellar rays and waves in the folding and crossing of lines and surfaces.
The most visually striking aspect of Vision Starburst starts at the sight of the front grille and air intake vents; the former has been revised from previous Geely Auto designs. Vision Starburst’s sharp and unique new parabolic pattern, in combination with the new lighting design, creates an effect that echoes the theme of energy releasing from a Starburst.
The concept that headlamps are the eyes of a vehicle has also been overturned as Geely designers imagine future vehicles seen through high-tech sensors. The whole vehicle visually extends from the center towards the sides, up and down, giving the front face of the vehicle a more powerful and three-dimensional expression.
The Vision Starburst’s door panels intertwine and integrate, while sharp, fractal creases make for bold shapes while hinting at the concept’s forward-thinking intent. The concepts of showcasing advanced technology and mobility have been applied to the illuminated wheel arches. Different lighting effects highlight Vision Starburst while the vehicle is charging, in motion, and parking.
Turning inside, the interior door panels are also designed to match the characteristics of the exterior. The car’s ‘Cosmic Ray’ light strips help to unify the interior and exterior design. The shifter takes on an aerodynamic hollow geometric shape on top of the floating center console while four lines of light illuminate to display different gear settings.
The Vision Starburst’s instrumentation blends into the ambient light on the IP and door panels to create a borderless visual experience with the user at its center. Borderless instruments and seamless information transmission also redefines the way users interact with the vehicle. The concept’s designers imagined the whole vehicle being capable of conveying vehicle and road information, increasing safety and bringing to life a whole new sensory experience for users.
“In search for this DNA in the new digital age, we have pushed the boundaries of technology and innovation,” says Burgoyne. “Like the birth of a new star, the ideas from our talented team of global designers combined, fused, and erupted, resulting in the birth of a new design expression.”
One of the major design focuses of the Vision Starburst concept is its holistic HMI inside and out. Like the exterior, the interior ambient lighting, sound, and atmosphere also change depending on the state of the vehicle, conveying information to the users in a whole new manner. The lighting interaction from the outside in gives users a sense of speed and a new driving experience.
Geely says the Vision Starburst concept will not be made into a production vehicle anytime soon but that many aspects of the new design language will be taken and applied to future Geely Auto models.
